March 17, 2007

JJ Abrams on Mystery

Creator of Lost and Alias JJ Abrams spoke at TED last week about the importance of mystery in his life. He realized that the reason why mystery has meant so much to him in his life has to do with his grandfather, Harry Calvin, who gave him countless demos of interesting objects as a child.

"A demo is an amazing gift to give a child," said Abrams. "Kids love to learn how things work, how to take things apart and put things back to together." His grandfather provided him with the tools to make things and introduced him to magic.

He shows us a magic box he bought years ago, a box which remains unopened and sits in his office. Why not open it after all these years? He realized, he said, "that it represented infinite possibilities," which is what his grandfather taught him.

He said, "A blank page is an infinite magic box. And so, the box, like the blank page, inspired me and I wanted to fill the page."

He continued, "Mystery is more important than knowledge. The mystery box is what you think you're getting, not what you're actually getting." He uses Lost and other TV programs and films as examples of how we are surprised when we least expect it. He also shows us scenes in movies that we may not expect, but what become the real 'gem' of the film.

The most incredible mystery is 'what next?' He reminds us how infinite all of our possiblities are now, particularly for the next generation who have the opportunity to produce and create online instantly, whether that is uploading video, audio, photos or text. He also reminds us how fabulous this is for growth and innovation. "No community is best served when only the elite have control." Here here J.J.